


Stargazing

by Jennie_D



Series: Becoming New [4]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Beyond the Wall - Freeform, Free Folk Culture and Customs, Free Folk Jon, Free Folk Jon Snow, Gen, Past Jon Snow/Ygritte, Post-Episode: s08e06 The Iron Throne, Post-Season/Series 08 Finale, Wildling Jon Snow, Wildlings - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-07-08 07:07:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19865509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jennie_D/pseuds/Jennie_D
Summary: It was a warm, clear night for the Lands Beyond the Wall, and Jon could not sleep.(A Tormund/Jon story with mentions of past Jon/Ygritte)





	Stargazing

It was a warm, clear night for the Lands Beyond the Wall, and Jon could not sleep.

Truthfully, he could rarely sleep well these days, but tonight he was almost glad for his restlessness. For it was the most beautiful night he could remember, and he could see every star in the heavens.

“I learned the names of these stars when I was a boy,” Jon mused. “Maester Luwin always took great care with his lessons. We poured over star charts again and again until we got it all right.”

“Good to see one bit of your education was useful. Stars are our best guides after all. And they come with such grand tales.”

Tormund had sleepily joined him when he’d discovered Jon was no longer in their tent, and was now nearly dozing under furs in the firelight as Jon took in the majestic nighttime scene above them. Jon glanced over at Ghost, who also stared at the sky, his hot breath steaming in a silent howl. Jon smiled, finding familiar comfort in Ghost's company, and turned back to Tormund.

“Yes, but now I feel a bit of a fool. So many of your constellations have different names and different stories.”

“Really?”

“Some are the same. The Shadowcat, the Moonmaid, the Sword of the Morning. But others…the Free Folk call the Stallion the Horned Lord and the King’s Crown is the Cradle and the Smith is the Thief.”

“The Thief is good luck,” Tormund offered blearily. “When it lies in The Moonmaid, it’s a good time to find someone to love.”

“Yes, Ygritte taught me that.” Jon was stabbed by an old but familiar pang of sadness. Tormund seemed to sense this and sat up a bit, rubbing Jon's back.

“She was clever that woman. Always made me proud to be one of the Free Folk.”

“I’ll miss her until the end of my days. She was…” Jon trailed off, finding it hard to put everything Ygritte had been to him into words. It had been many years since she’d died, and Jon had faced many horrors since then _(including those that kept him up this night, those that kept him up every night.)_ Yet sometimes it felt she’d been next to him only yesterday.

Jon wiped at his eyes, took a breath to steady himself, then turned back to the sky.

“It’s strange, that here even the stars are changed.”

Tormund shifted, lying back in his furs. “Well I do love a good star story, I’d be happy to hear your southron ones. Tell me about your Stallion.”

“I’m not much of a storyteller.”

“Just give it a try, little crow.”

Jon nodded, took Tormund’s hand, got close to him under the furs, and began his tale.

“Once there was a maid who caught the wildest horse in Westeros…”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! All the constellation information is from A Storm of Swords. I really wanted to do this, because I love how Jon spends time staring at the stars and talking to Ygritte about them in that book.
> 
> I've got a tumblr photoset for this here  
> [Link](tormundjonthings.tumblr.com/post/186387961373/stargazing-i-learned-the-names-of-these-stars)


End file.
